I live in Nebraska, just west of Omaha. I don't drink. This is for my husband. He likes beers like fat tire, boulevard, bush lite, lots of kinds. He wants to brew his own because we camp a lot with friends. One of the friends is always showing off homemade wine. My husband is jealous and wants to bring something homemade too.
Hmm... I want to make my friends jealous, so I'll have my WIFE make some homebrew for me...
What a guy!
At any rate, making beer is fun IMO but it's a potential long-term investment. Unless you know that you are going to like continuing to brew, I'd go as cheap as possible.
You might find a plastic bucket for a fermenter at a nearby bakery. I can get 5 Gallon food grade buckets with lids for $1.50 downtown. (though the Amish got them all just before I went down there, so I have not seen them yet)
If you get 2, you can use one for a bottling bucket later, which makes bottling much easier.
If you have a 3 gallon stock pot, then you don't need to buy a kettle to boil the wort.
You will need some plastic tubing, a capper, some bottles (I use returns here in Michigan for a dime apiece), a racking cane, a couple of airlocks and bungs... Anything else??
You can actually make some good homebrew with a few basic items, but if you know you are going to do it long term, then a good kit is hard to beat.
Read up on the forums and read
How to Brew - By John Palmer for more info. With a few simple things to remember, you can make some very good homebrew.